The Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Published Application No. 2003-205051) discloses an exercise assistance apparatus which is provided with a cycling machine having a rotation sensor for detecting movement of pedals. The exercise assistance apparatus is provided with a monitor for displaying images, a means for storing image data to express a traveling road and opponent characters, an exercise machine control means for performing variable control for load status of an electromagnetic clutch of the cycling machine, a means for sequentially updating and controlling traveling positions of the opponent characters on the traveling road, a means for calculating a virtual self position of a player on the traveling road from detection content of the rotation sensor and load status controlled by the exercise machine control means, and an image display means for displaying the traveling road and the opponent characters on the monitor, and displaying degrees of difficulty to pass the opponent characters.
In the exercise assistance apparatus, the monitor displays a scenery image (a background image) as a background on a screen, which contains a road character corresponding to the traveling road (a portion of an orbital road), together with the opponent characters each of which rides a bicycle on the road character with a camera viewpoint as an eye of the player.
Then, when the player pedals, a scene moves as if the player traveled by a bicycle. That is, since it is difficult to really travel by a bicycle indoors due to restriction on space, the exercise similar to the travel by the bicycle is played by pedaling the cycling machine which stays one place. However, since it can not provide fun only by itself, by generating the images as if the player traveled by the bicycle, the fun is provided for the player and whereby the exercise is assisted.
In this way, the conventional exercise assistance apparatus generates the images as if the player traveled by the bicycle, and whereby the player is given feeling as if he/she traveled really by the bicycle despite pedaling the cycling machine which stays one place. That is, the scene of the travel by the bicycle is generated in a virtual space, and whereby the exercise by the cycling machine which simulates a bicycle in a real space, i.e., a simulation of riding the bicycle is close to a real action.
However, although technology has progressed, a gap between the real space and the virtual space is large. Thus, the player may often feel odd. Though the images to which the load status is reflected are generated so as to decrease feeling odd as described above, it causes increase of processing of a computer.
This is true also in the case where the motion (e.g., walking or running) corresponding to the motion (e.g., stepping) of the player in the real space is reflected to a character in the virtual space.
Accordingly, the conventional technique is not necessarily sufficient to achieve the expected purpose which is assistance of exercise.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an exercise assistance method and the related techniques thereof capable of assisting exercise effectively while decreasing processing.
By the way, there have heretofore been various exercise machines such as a stepper, a cycling machine, and so on. As shown in FIG. 47, in the Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Published Application No. Hei 6-91018), a stepper is provided with a left pedal 500L and a right pedal 500R on which a user places a left foot and a right foot respectively, and makes the user exercise by alternately pressing down on them with the left foot and the right foot. In other words, the user performs reciprocating motion using the feet, and the pedals 500L and 500R of the stepper also make the same reciprocating motion. Also, the cycling machine has the user pedal to exercise him. In other words, the user performs circular motion (a type of recurrence motion) using the feet, and the pedals of the cycling machine also make the same circular motion.
The recurrence motion such as the circular motion and so on, and the reciprocating motion can be said as periodic motion. Since such periodic motion is monotonous, it is necessary to make appreciable effort so as to continually perform it over long periods. For this reason, in the Patent Document 1, the cycling machine is linked to the monitor via a dedicated computer, the computer displays the images corresponding to the movement of pedals on the monitor, and whereby the Patent Document 1 provides the exercise assistance apparatus capable of assisting the user so that he/she can continually get exercise. Since the images corresponding to the movement of the cycling machine are displayed on the monitor, the cycling machine can be said as a machine which gives input to the computer by the periodic motion.
In the Patent Document 1, the exercise assistance apparatus is provided with the cycling machine and the monitor, which are designed as dedicated articles respectively and linked each other via the dedicated computer. Therefore, since it is not possible to use a cycling machine and a monitor which the user already owns, he/she needs to newly purchase all the articles. This imposes great economic burden on the use, and further causes a decline of buying motive because the user may own a plurality of devices which are similar to one another
It is therefore an another object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus and the related techniques thereof capable of inputting by periodic motion while reducing economic burden on a user.